Overnight Demo - Takeaways from a Model 3 owner

[CrazyOne]

Great job of not reading my comment at all. I did not dispute the fact that they (and many others, including Tesla) won’t sell some parts. I guess you can’t be bothered to call the SC yourself and ask about the parts you want to buy. Much easier to complain on an Internet forum to make your perceived outrage feel justified.

I did and they refused to sell me wheels.

And if you have a problem with people complaining on internet, what are you doing?

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[NeedSumCoffee]

Never liked Tesla vehicles, even before the crazy came out of the closet. But I believe Tesla lets owners buy parts via a service ticket. Afaik, Rivian won't. That's a big difference.

It took 10 years and multiple lawsuits to get Tesla to the point of selling parts to the public and even today still requires you have a VIN to buy a part. They had their entire part ecosystem locked down forever. Rich Rebuilds even did a bunch of videos about it where Tesla refused to sell him any parts at all.

Also Rivian absolutely does sell parts though service centers, it is just not convenient yet. Last year Rivian opened up their service partner program and a few shops around the country are giving them full access to the Rivian parts catalog. Rivian also partnered with Snap-on to launch https://rivianservicetools.com/ website where you can buy most Rivian service tools. There is very little interest so from from independent shops to sign up, as the vast majority of Rivians are still under warranty and there's very little customer base for them.

Mostly I was pointing out that Tesla has long been one of the most anti-RtR companies out there and had to be dragged lawsuit after lawsuit into supporting their customers. Just comical for a Tesla owner to talk about any other company being difficult to get parts for.

 

[CrazyOne]

It took 10 years and multiple lawsuits to get Tesla to the point of selling parts to the public and even today still requires you have a VIN to buy a part. They had their entire part ecosystem locked down forever. Rich Rebuilds even did a bunch of videos about it where Tesla refused to sell him any parts at all.

Also Rivian absolutely does sell parts though service centers, it is just not convenient yet. Last year Rivian opened up their service partner program and a few shops around the country are giving them full access to the Rivian parts catalog. Rivian also partnered with Snap-on to launch https://rivianservicetools.com/ website where you can buy most Rivian service tools. There is very little interest so from from independent shops to sign up, as the vast majority of Rivians are still under warranty and there's very little customer base for them.

Mostly I was pointing out that Tesla has long been one of the most anti-RtR companies out there and had to be dragged lawsuit after lawsuit into supporting their customers. Just comical for a Tesla owner to talk about any other company being difficult to get parts for.

And this only happened because people have complained for 2-3 years. This also does not work for someone who wants to work on their own car.

 

[NeedSumCoffee]

And this only happened because people have complained for 2-3 years. This also does not work for someone who wants to work on their own car.

Again, vast majority of Rivians are still under warranty and isnt an issue. Very small percentage of people out of warranty who want to work on their own cars can get parts from service center (albeit painfully), its just not a big priority for Rivian to establish a parts department yet. This also isnt a takeaway that someone would have on a test drive in the first place, which is why it seemed out of place in the list.

 

[CrazyOne]

Again, vast majority of Rivians are still under warranty and isnt an issue. Very small percentage of people out of warranty who want to work on their own cars can get parts from service center (albeit painfully), its just not a big priority for Rivian to establish a parts department yet. This also isnt a takeaway that someone would have on a test drive in the first place, which is why it seemed out of place in the list.

It can sometimes be a problem before the vehicle warranty is up. Almost everyone who bought Rivian(not leased) will go through $700 - $800 12v battery replacement. Rivian parts are not only ludicrously more expensive, you also cannot buy them. Someone tried and failed.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...positive-eastvale-service-center-visit.39684/

 

[Tango45]

@do_ob welcome to the forum and welcome to NOVA (although, if you're west of 15 or south of 234, you're under no obligation to claim NOVA/DMV as that also includes Maryland and we all want to avoid that affiliation!). I wanted to note that some of the roads here can mess with navigation at the wrong times as it may not realize the hot mess that some of them (looking at you, GW Parkway!) can be due to traffic, construction, or official motorcades. Additionally, I think some of the changing HOV restrictions really mess with nav systems. By the same token, I often find that the highway assist will work on some sections of major roads like 66 and 4/3/95, but can't help you if you're on the HOV lanes. I will say that the R1 vehicles in this area seem to be going strong, but I would tell you to take a good look at how far you will be from a service center. I use the Gaithersburg one and have good results with them, but it's relatively close at 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic.

I'd recommend that you take a look at the Mid-Atlantic forum page as it might have more information directly applicable to you. It's also a good place to find out about events where you very well could run into a few of us and pick out brains about what it's like to live with one around here. Either way, I hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[NeedSumCoffee]

It can sometimes be a problem before the vehicle warranty is up. Almost everyone who bought Rivian(not leased) will go through $700 - $800 12v battery replacement. Rivian parts are not only ludicrously more expensive, you also cannot buy them. Someone tried and failed.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...positive-eastvale-service-center-visit.39684/

March 2023, Rivian switched to a single 12V battery. Thankfully most owners will never have to worry about a $700-800 battery change. $250 for an OEM battery isn’t that out of the ordinary. Hell even my wife’s Volvo runs $650 to replace OEM battery at dealership.

 

[CrazyOne]

March 2023, Rivian switched to a single 12V battery. Thankfully most owners will never have to worry about a $700-800 battery change. $250 for an OEM battery isn’t that out of the ordinary. Hell even my wife’s Volvo runs $650 to replace OEM battery at dealership.

Good for you, but this is just an example.

Is your Volvo battery Lithium battery? This is plain old lead acid battery that we can usually get for $100.

Also, this is just an example. There are many other things where they will get you ?

 

[NeedSumCoffee]

Good for you, but this is just an example.

Is your Volvo battery Lithium battery? This is plain old lead acid battery that we can usually get for $100.

Also, this is just an example. There are many other things where they will get you ?

Your example will impact very few. There are also threads in this forum with people DIYing battery changes for almost nothing. Seems more like grasping at straws.

Volvo uses AGM batteries just like Rivian and many other manufacturers. They’re generally about double the cost of a basic lead acid.

 

[slillie]

Hi everyone. After having an initial short test drive, Rivian offered an overnight demo. My 1st drive was with a R1T dual large with the AT package. The overnight was a R1T dual max performance on 22” wheels. Not new to EVs. I’ve owned a Model 3 for almost 6 years. I’ve had full, mid, and compact size trucks and SUVs previously but would like a EV version since my role within my company requires daily travel usually within the 120mi-200mi range. I’d like something more all terrain capable since I’ve moved to a rural mountainous area. Great vehicle overall with some quirks I’m not willing to deal with yet. Don’t think the R1 is right for me so I’ll watch from the sidelines and wait for my R2 and Scout reservations. Thanks for everyone on the forums for providing useful intel!

Pros
-Max battery pack is great! Even in 10f-36f weather, range was fine. I drove it 133 miles home from the service center and used 24%. Another 50ish miles around town and another 133 miles back the next day to average 1.97 kWh/mi.
-The UI is very responsive comparable to Tesla.
-Once I found my ride/height/drive settings, the ride was compliant and comfortable.
-The gear tunnel is a neat, useful feature.
-Adaptive headlights were great.

Cons
-Not a big fan of the suggested navigation routes. It seemed to prioritize efficiency above everything else. I’m fairly new to NOVA/DMV area and know where I am but am not familiar with all roads if that makes sense. For example, the GPS gave me 2 options to get home. The quickest route had an ETA of 2hrs 45mins while I know I can make it home in 2hrs flat.
-Rivian offered me the option to charge at any RAN charger since I have a NACS wall connector at home. Really cool but the charging curve was horrendous. I started at 39% with a charging speed of 130kwh; however, it slowed to 40-50kwh once the SOC was 45%. I eventually gave up at 70% which was roughly 45mins.
-The upgraded sound system didn’t work properly. All of the driver’s side front speakers would crackle and cut off intermittently.
-Highway assist. Or lack there of. I was only able to have it work once the entire time. All other attempts would pop up either an error message (system fault) or an unavailable prompt.
-Maybe not really a callout but more of a preference, R1 is complex which makes DYI a challenge. I’ve been able historically to lightly wrench on all my vehicles but R1 seems fairly proprietary. Is this a correct opinion?

*please excuse any grammatical/spelling errors as I’ve typed this from the phone.

Seriously, you got all that from an overnight demo. I traded my 3 in for my max pack R1T last year and I’ve never looked back since. I am not quite sure I understand the purpose of your post.

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